Confronting a few Realities

I love everything about food from planning to eating! A creative challenge always raises my adrenaline level. A little worry here a little excitement there. Urgency . . .I thrive on it. Do you suppose that is why I am a procrastinator? Pre-planning and analysis is a bit much. It's curious to me that these thoughts and ideas are rolling around in my brain. Do I really want to risk giving up the pleasure of eating and eat to live? I don't expect low-budget eating to so dramatic a change. But, some pleasurable and satisfying foods may not be affordable.

Foods I love:

Kenilworth Garden Tea - One of life's best pleasures is a cup of tea in the morning while reading the newspaper. It is made by pouring freshly boiling water over loose tea that has the most delicious sweet apricot aroma. Steep four minutes. I am an admitted milk fat and sugar addict, so that cup of tea is with cream and turbinado sugar.

Organic, Fair Trade Coffee, Milk Eggs, Produce - Foods without chemicals and pharmaceuticals at a price fair for those who produce it.

Fresh Orange Juice - Don't get this often. Not from concentrate is the second choice.

Turbinado Sugar - much more flavor than white sugar.

Grape Juice- Welch's

Fresh Mozzarella, Asiago, Fontina cheeses

Butter, mostly in baking. Bread, sweet rolls, coffee cakes, cookies I don't use shortening.

Quick Meals of desperation: TJ's frozen pastas

Where to shop:
I went to Aldi's yesterday. Doesn't Aldi's have the same parent company as Trader Joe's? I was hoping to see some similarities. Aldi's is much closer than Trader Joe's. The store was neat and clean. There was not a variety of choices for any one food, which is okay if the one on offer is good as well as healthy. The brands were not familiar, and the price was not significantly different than Meijer. Making another grocery stop makes the trip more time consuming and complicated for very little gain. I think I'll skip Aldi's.

Trader Joe's has excellent frozen corn, chocolate (for eating and baking), tofu, and turbinado sugar. Their frozen pasta meals are delicious, and they are so simple and quick my husband can make them. The store is close to Penzey's and other shopping. It makes a nice day trip.

I'm anxious to explore food buying online. Some of my friends have found very good dried ingredients such as potatoes and milk.

Spring or summer would have been a better time to start this experiment. I must rely on store bought foods rather than Farmer's Market and home grown fresh produce I've frozen or canned.

Wondering if the balance of foods will change: less variety (especially vegetables), less animal fat (may not be such a bad thing) and a decrease in quantity.

This is taking quite a bit of time to think this through, plan, and, no doubt, prepare meals. I hope it gets easier after I've done it once or twice or for awhile!

I'd love some recipes for low cost, healthy, delicious dishes. Please share if you have some!